The present invention relates to heat transfer apparatus and methods for heating and cooling purposes.
In many situations proper ventilation requires that air be exhausted from a room or other enclosed space to the outside atmosphere or to another space which is either hotter or colder than the enclosed space, which is maintained at or near a desired temperature by a heating or cooling system. The air exhausted is replaced by air from the outside which must, therefore be heated or cooled, with consequent consumption of energy, in order to bring it to the desired temperature.
Energy sources such as fossil fuels which are commonly used to provide the needed energy for comfort heating and cooling are ever increasing in cost and decreasing in supply. Thus, it has become necessary to seek not only new sources of energy, but also means for conserving and utilizing more efficiently the energy now in use. So-called counter-flow heat exchangers are designed to transfer some of the heat to or from the air supplied to an enclosed space by heat exchange with the air exhausted therefrom. One of the more recent innovations in this line is the rotary, metal mesh, heat exchange wheel such as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,380. Other means such as water-source heat pumps and heat pipe fin-tube assemblies are also used as energy-conserving heat transfer means.
Although many recent innovations in the heat transfer field represent significant advances in providing the desired comfort heating and cooling with lower energy consumption, there remains a constant need and search for improvement. Some of the design requirements of existing systems which increase the costs of production, installation and/or maintenance thereof are: the rotary metal-mesh wheels dictate the shape of mechanical equipment and require the air flow ducts to be immediately adjacent; the heat pipe has many individual circuits which must be individually charged and leak tested and, in order to operate at full capacity, must be installed in a tilted position.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved heat exchange system wherein heat is automatically transferred in either direction between air exhausted from and air supplied to an enclosed space to bring the air supplied closer to the temperature of that exhausted.
A further object is to provide a heat transfer method and apparatus utilizing fin tube coils over which incoming and outgoing air streams are directed and which requires no moving parts in order to transfer heat from the warmer to the colder of the two air streams. Another object is to provide a novel thermal building panel wherein heat collected on the exterior is given up within the building.
A still further object is to provide novel apparatus for cooling an enclosed space by natural flow of a refrigerant without transferring air from outside to inside of the space and without utilizing mechanical refrigeration.
Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.